Article Medically Reviewed By:
Elise Rehn, MD
Women’s Mental Health Fellow University of Illinois at Chicago Department of Psychiatry
Overview
What Is It?
Bipolar disorder is characterized by intense episodes of elation or irritability and despair, with any combination of mood experiences in between, including periods of normal moods.
Bipolar disorder can be one of the most distinct and dramatic of mental illnesses. It is characterized by intense episodes of elation or irritability and despair, with any combination of mood experiences in between, including periods of normal moods. Mood changes are accompanied by changes in behavior, such as altered patterns of sleep and activity.
Traditionally, one percent of the population has been affected by bipolar disorder, but as the condition has expanded to include a spectrum of proposed bipolar conditions, this number has risen to an estimated 2.6 to 6.5 percent. According to the World Health Organization, bipolar disorder is the sixth leading cause of disability among people aged 15 to 44. It is less common than major depression, also called "unipolar" depression, or simply, "depression."
The classic form of bipolar disorder, which involves recurrent episodes of mania and depression, is called bipolar I disorder. Some people, however, never develop severe mania but instead experience milder episodes, called hypomania, that alternate with depression; this form of the illness is called bipolar II disorder. In addition, there are two other forms of bipolar disorder: bipolar disorder not otherwise specified (BP-NOS) and cyclothymic disorder, or cyclothymia. BP-NOS is reserved for cases where people have symptoms of bipolar disorder that do not meet all the diagnostic criteria for bipolar I or II. Cyclothymia is a mild form of bipolar disorder where people have episodes of hypomania that shift back and forth with mild depression for at least two years. The symptoms of cyclothymia also do not fit into the diagnostic criteria for bipolar I or II.
Studies show that men and women are equally likely to develop bipolar disorder; however, there is some evidence that women may have more depressive and fewer manic episodes than men with the illness. Women seem to have "mixed states" (mania or hypomania occurring at the same time as depression) more often than men. Also, women are more likely to have the rapid cycling form of the disease, which is characterized by four or more episodes of depression, mania or hypomania a year, and may be more resistant to standard treatments. Women are also more likely to have bipolar II disorder.
The symptoms of bipolar disorder can be severe and debilitating. Bipolar disease is not curable. However, medication can help many people achieve remission of symptoms. Treatment and maintenance of this disorder is necessary throughout a person's life once bipolar disorder is diagnosed.
Like some other illnesses that require lifelong treatment, bipolar disor...
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